Cooper, 8 1/2 year old bullmastiff - new cushings diagnosis and calcinosis cutis

[Coopers mom]

Hi, just wanted to share about our pup.
Our poor old boy, Cooper was just diagnosed with Cushings and Calcinosis cutis last week. What we thought was a hot spot grew into a horrible area of cc on the back of his head and has since created a ring around his enormous neck like a collar. To make matters worse, a nasty infection is growing (despite antibacterial washes and trying endlessly to keep everything clean). Thankfully, the vet cultured this area and after many days of waiting, we were finally able to isolate the bacteria and find the right antibiotic for it. A huge thank you to Diamond Back drugs for providing it at such a great discount.

Yesterday Cooper started dsmo and trilostane. dsmo might be as disgusting as the cc is! We have 3 small children who want to climb on cooper and it's so hard to keep them away from him!

Any tips on the cc and managing it are greatly appreciated. I am hoping that as we start treatment, he gets some relief. He wears a cone to help keep him away from his neck, but I have come home several times recently to find him covered in blood and a horrible scene. It is incredibly unsettling for both of us. Perhaps the only good part is that he torn off the awful scabs from the cc one day when he was only left alone for 2 hours. It's just horrible, I cry as I clean him up. And because of his size, a bath tub isn't an option for cleaning him up, it's outside with the cold hose. :(

[labblab]

Hello! I am so glad you've found us but so sorry about Cooper's skin issues. We have several folks who are actively dealing with calcinosis cutis right now, so I am hoping they will soon have a chance to stop by and compare notes with you. You can also find their threads, too, since "CC" in some form should appear in their thread titles.

Without doubt, it is one of the most disturbing manifestations of Cushing's. But we do have success stories here, although patience can be the greatest virtue of all since it can take some time to get the condition managed. If you could tell us a bit more about Cooper's overall health history and also some specifics about his Cushing's diagnosis, that would be a help to us. Does he suffer from other observable symptoms of Cushing's, or has his skin condition been the main basis for his diagnosis? Any other testing aside from that related to his skin? And what dose of trilostane is he taking?

Thanks in advance for any and all info you care to share!

Marianne

P.S. Your avatar is precious!!!!!!

[jas77450]

Hi and welcome, I hope Cooper turns around soon, hugs!!!

[Coopers mom]

Thank you for your comments!

Cooper has really been a very healthy pup until now. Summer 2013 during routine senior blood work, his low specific gravity in his urine was off so we had an ultrasound done. I think Cushings was probably present already at this point. The ultrasound was good -- the doctor was even impressed with the overall look of his abdominal given his age.

Speed up to summer 2014, some behavioral changes started to happen. I caught him drinking from the toilet bowl which he never did, instead of sleeping in bed with us, he would seek out the cool tile floor and instead of being able to hold his bladder (he is bigger then me after all!), he could only hold it a few hours. I think in my heart I knew something was up, but also knew that he had already outlived his mother and brother and thought old age was really setting in. His mom, dad, and brother all died of cancer, so this has always been in the back of our minds.

One night in August, we had a terrible thunder storm and Cooper wedged himself in between the shower door and wall -- my husband was in the shower, didn't know Coop was there and opened the door on his head. We think this lead to a cut on top of his head and a nasty scab. The scab lingered and finally weeks later, I though it had become a hot spot, so to the vet we went.

He was first treated with regular antibiotics and then a steroid when it didn't heal. He responded awful to the steroid, but his "hot spot" looked a bit better. At the same time, his spot was spreading around his neck to where it is now, completely covering his neck.

The doctor performed a biopsy to make sure it was calcinosis cutis and then after a positive test, did the ACTH too. All confirmed what we thought. We also did a culture of his neck to figure out what other gross bacteria was growing there -- it's a nasty one!

Finally, we have a diagnosis and meds to go along with it.

He started trilostane on Saturday evening -120 mg per dose and he was to take it twice a day. On Sunday he had two doses and then I called the vet, I felt it was too much, so for now he is on 120mg. He weighs any where between 125 to 135lbs. We also started the DMSO, every other day on small areas and the antibiotic (marbofloxin) for the bacteria.

Since starting the trilostane, he is legarthic, has an appetite but doesn't. He wants the food dropped by the kids, but not his own. He is eating a good combination of dry and wet foods and usually inhales it. He will eat his food, just takes him awhile to get interested in it.

Our hope is that he responds to the antibiotic and his skin can start to heal. He has some dried out gray spots or pink spots starting to show, but also has a lot of blood and weeping from the area. I cleanse it twice daily, clean his cone several times and just try to keep it clean.

I know his hair may never grow back, just want him to be comfortable again and happy.

Think I wrote enough for now!

[jas77450]

Poor Cooper, hang in there big guy...we are all routing for you.

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome. Cc is just very hard to get rid of and does get worse before it gets better. The main thing is to try and keep it dry and keep the hairs around it clipped short, this helps with the bacteria growth too.
It takes a long time for cc to clear up. There are tiny little calcium bumps under the skin that all have to come up and this can take months. So don't despair.
Getting the cortisol controlled is the best thing you can do for the cc.

This is a link to another member who is also going through CC with her Tobey. She also has pictures so you can see the progress.

http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5908

Yes, eating habits do tend to change a bit with the cortisol comes down. I'm glad that you didn't go with 120mg twice a day as that would have been a bit much to start with.
1mg/1lb is a good and the current recommendation for starting dosage.

Welcome again to the forum